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The IPL 2026 is all set to kick off from March 28. So far, the schedule of only first 20 matches has been released due to state elections.
Ahead of the cash-rich league, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have announced Rinku Singh as their vice-captain.
The team will enter the tournament under the leadership of Ajinkya Rahane.
The first match of the tournament is scheduled to be played between the defending champions, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
Earlier, the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) Secretary, Santosh Menon, confirmed that the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium will host five of the RCB`s IPL 2026 home games. The venue will also host one of the play-off matches and the title clash of the tournament.
Bengaluru`s remaining two home matches will be played at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium in Raipur, Chhattisgarh.
Kolkata will begin their IPL 2026 campaign by playing a clash against the Mumbai Indians (MI) on March 29 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The Knights under Rahane`s leadership will be eager to clinch the title. Earlier, KKR head coach Abhishek Nayar gave a warm welcome to assistant coach Shane Watson.
“Everyone knows Shane Watson as a player, but I`ve known him as someone who has played under him. I`m really really happy Watto, to have you with us. You`ve been a terrific addition even in this small period that I`ve interacted with you,” he said.
IPL 2026, Kolkata Knight Riders vs Mumbai Indians: Full Squads
Kolkata Knight Riders: Ajinkya Rahane (C), Manish Pandey, Sunil Narine, Rahul Tripathi, Tim Seifert (WK), Rinku Singh, Rovman Powell, Sarthak Ranjan, Finn Allen (WK), Rachin Ravindra, Cameron Green, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kartik Tyagi, Blessing Muzarabani, Akash Deep, Prashant Solanki, Matheesha Pathirana, Vaibhav Arora, Umran Malik, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Harshit Rana, Tejasvi Singh (WK), Daksh Kamra.
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Trent Boult, Suryakumar Yadav, Quinton de Kock (WK), Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Corbin Bosch, Hardik Pandya (C), Jasprit Bumrah, Ryan Rickelton (WK), Will Jacks, Mayank Rawat, Mayank Markande, Sherfane Rutherford, Raghu Sharma, Atharva Ankolekar, Tilak Varma, Ashwani Kumar, Raj Bawa, Danish Malewar, Robin Minz (WK), Allah Ghazanfar, Naman Dhir, Mohammed Salahuddin Izhar.
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